Stop the RIAA, Boycott the RIAA

Most people don't know it, but when you pay for major label music you're supporting some pretty nasty stuff. We think it boils down to two main points:

1) The major labels pay radio stations to play their songs. This is sketchy in itself--shouldn't the music on the radio just be the best stuff? But the worst part is it means other labels are locked out of radio. If musicians don't sign an exploitative contract with one of the majors, they don't get on the radio.

2) This fall the major labels starting suing fans. So far, they've sued over 300 people, mostly working families with young children. And they say the suits will continue indefinitely. Whatever you think about filesharing, it's just not okay for giant corporations to sue people with kids, living paycheck to paycheck, who can't afford a defense. The lawsuits are literally pushing families into bankruptcy.

RIAA Radar (riaaradar.com) is a great
tool that can tell you whether a CD is put out by an RIAA label. It helps
you avoid supporting the RIAA when you buy music. Now, Downhill Battle and
RIAA Radar have teamed up to get the word out in stores, but we need you
to
make it happen. Changing the music industry isn't a dream anymore, the major labels are on the ropes and we have a chance to get rid of them.

Get some labels

We want to get these stickers out to people that will put them in stores around the country. We got a whole bunch made at stickerguy.com. We'll send you a pack of 100 (50 of each design) for $10 including postage (we're just trying to cover our costs). You can also print your own, below. Either way, we'd love to hear about how it goes! (Take a look to the right for some photos people have already sent us.)

If you like the idea of this project, but don't want to sticker yourself, you can still help out. There are lots of folks that would do more stickering if they had more stickers. Contribute to our sticker fund and we'll make sure that your stickers get put to good use. And if you're interested in contributing $100 or more, we also have some special projects in mind-- contact us.

Print Your Own

Have an inkjet and some mailing labels? Print out some stickers and get to work!

Disclaimer: Downhill Battle is not responsible for how you use any of these stickers.

Read More

Downhill Battle is working to end the major label domination of the music industry. If you want to read the short version of why we think this matters, check out: The Reasons. Take a look at the rest of our site to learn more about the major record labels, and the incredible opportunity we have to make the music business better for artists and fans: www.downhillbattle.org.

Get Involved

If you'd like to help out with Downhill Battle projects and outreach, head over to our Get Involved page.

So on the "biggest" (apocryphal), most hellish shopping day of the year, we set our alarm clocks and at 9 AM plunged right into the belly of the beast:

Walmart, West Boylston, MA

Walmart is the world's largest seller of CDs. They are the guardians of our shared musical heritage.

9:51AM

This picture reveals two things:

a) being in Walmart at 9:30am the day after Thanksgiving does not make us happy.
b) our digital camera is crappy and we needed a better one. Walmart is
perfect for this because they have a 0% restocking fee and a 90-day return
policy (89 days more than we needed). We got an HP435, which was a
mistake-- it comes with a tiny amount of storage and the pictures suck.
Still, it was slightly better than what we had. Onward!

10:02AM

We went outside, put the batteries in the camera, and fired it up.

We've got 2,000 of these lil' buddies!

10:09AM

Alright, back into Walmart, over to the music section, and down to business.

10:18AM

We like how J-Lo is right next to Korn. Jenny from the block, Snakes and ladders, whatever. To Walmart and the record companies, it's just $16 chunks of plastic and paper that some people somewhere are still unable to download for free.

10:39AM

Our next target, Target:

Target, Lincoln Plaza in Worcester, MA

At Target we just gave up on being even slightly sneaky. The CD aisles were always empty anyway (and this on the busiest day of the year) so we just got into our stickering groove.

10:53AM

Despite intense glare from Nelly's "Da Derrty Versions" we were able to do some serious damage.

CDs at the checkout? Come on, don't do it... you'll be happier with a tabloid, or some candy. Anyway, so long Target.

11:43AM

Next stop, Best Buy. Oh yeah, and if we weren't obvious enough already, Nick starts rocking a sticker on his hat:

Best Buy- Greendale Mall, Worcester, MA

11:44AM

Say what you want about Best Buy, on the Day After Thanksgiving they give out free f*cking cotton candy. We'll happily repay their 1 cent of sugar with some informative labeling that they'll really, really appreciate.

11:52AM

Once again, after elbowing our way through the DVD and video games section, we find ourselves in the tranquil, deserted aisles of CDs, and get to work. Metallica display, you get it first, and with good reason.

Hey, you can listen to part of the album for free before you buy it. Isn't there some internet thing like that which lets you hear the full songs? Anyway, it's good spot for our last sticker of the day!

12:58PM

Back to Walmart to return the lousy camera. Thanks for the loaner, guys!

Ok, you read our story, now get some of these labels and go shopping yourself: Get some labels

More Stickering Adventures

This photo was sent to us anonymously from an internet photo kiosk inside a "Sony Entertainment Center". Genius. Sony, of course, is one of the 5 major labels that buy off radio stations and sue music fans.